Manning no doubt expects the need for some serious debriefing sessions Sunday against the Chargers at Sports Authority Field at Mile High — considering that San Diego (4-5) has won only one of its past four games, including the 35-24 Monday night home loss to the Broncos on Oct. 15.

Manning helped to direct a historic second-half comeback on that night in San Diego with 35 unanswered points. Manning expects San Diego to come in ready to play.

"All I know is, it's a division game; it's a team that the Broncos have a lot of familiarity with," Manning said during his weekly news conference at Dove Valley. "It's a long-time rivalry. And I know NFL players have a lot of pride.

"The teams that have beaten us, I know I want to get another shot at them. So we know they are going to be ready to play. And it's important for us to improve. We have to be better than we were last week (in the 36-14 win at Carolina)."

San Diego has won only one of its past four games, including the 35-24 Monday night home loss to the Broncos on Oct. 15, when Manning helped direct a historic second-half comeback with 35 unanswered points.

The Broncos are riding a four-game winning streak into Sunday's game .

"It wasn't a good start for us (in the first meeting)," Manning said. "But also, San Diego played really good defense in that first half and outplayed us."

Although Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers has been erratic this season, the San Diego defense ranks seventh in NFL total defense, and third in the AFC behind Pittsburgh (No. 1 in NFL), Houston (No. 2) and Denver (No. 6).

"I don't spend time on the opponent's offense, I don't know what's going on there (with San Diego)," Manning said. "But I know what the tape looks like on their defense.

"These guys are flying around. They're not giving up yards vs. the run or the pass. They're causing problems for offenses to get into a flow. That's what I remember (about the first meeting). In the second half, we were doing something against a really good defense."

Manning threw for 301 yards and a touchdown last weekend in the 36-14 victory at Carolina. He has reached the 300-yard mark in six of his past seven games — just missing out Nov. 4 at Cincinnati with 291 yards in a blowout victory for the Broncos.

Manning tops the NFL in quarterback rating (108.0). Through nine games, he has set a Broncos record for the most games in a season (seven) with a rating of at least 100.

But there's always the next game.

"I think it's important that we work hard in practice," Manning said. "Coach (John) Fox has emphasized that, and the team has bought into it."

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